Reviewed on 1/29/2010. Bottle thanks to DalzAle. Pours a deep tawny orange with a small white head. Aroma of caramel malt, prunes. Flavor of caramel malt with a citrusy, bitter finish. Decent but this might be a bit aged. I'd like to try this again as a fresh sample.

Pours a pretty nice light amber colour with a not so healthy head but its there and not so great lacing. First smell wow lots of fruit! First sip tons of fruit! and hops and super sweet almost fruit syrup taste to it. some grains in there too. aftertaste kinda metallic and bitter. i think one of these beers is good but after two or three it would be too sweet. other strong beers tend to be a bit more bitter rather than extremely sweet. not too shabby half pints

Pours a clear dark orange with a foamy beige head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt and dank earthy and herbal hop aromas. Taste is much the same with an alcohol kick and a high amount of herbal hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer but it's quite herbal and dank.

As with the first bottle, the hops just aren't as bold as you would expect from a DIPA. Sweet sticky caramel malt body with a hint of biscuit gives good depth like you would want, nice fruity sweet hops, heavy on the citrus with hints of floral, with a light bitterness in the body that follows through to the finish with little lasting bitterness. Silky Smooth carbonation works well, good malt base - but needs some jump to the hops to balance it out.

Not a bad attempt but without the hops (which is what a DIPA is all about) this one falls short of expectations, needs a more complex hop bouquet as well as more bitterness to balance the sweetness of the malt base. 2nd bottle has raised my score ever so slightly but still not enough to justify me seeking it out again.

Good-sized white head on the beer, which fades steadily but not totally. Some head remains. Good lacing. Beer is a murky, cloudy amber colour.

Smell is quite full of herbal notes, caramel malt and muted citrus. A bit dank.

Flavourwise, the beer is (unsurprisingly) quite hoppy, but there is a large malt component as well. Citrus, orange, pine resin. Grassy and quite herbal. Alcohol stronger than I would like for the style. Biscuity, sweet malt, with some caramel. The herbal element results in a medicinal flavour, a bit minty. Quite bitter in the finish.

Full bodied, low natural carbonation. Too heavy. Not sure that cask is the best treatment for this beer.

Overall, the herbal characters of this beer and the alcohol heat really hurt it for me. I find it rather messy. Good qualities, but not for me. Would be interested to try it on tap or in bottle, as I do wonder whether it just does not work on cask.

A - A nice dark amber/orange colour with half a finger of thick creamy head. Hazy with sediment floating around.

S - Juicy earthy and citrus hops. Some nice bitterness comes through but a very sweet caramel malt backbone cuts through the bitterness. Overall the nose is more malt forward.

T - Very sweet caramel malts dominate the palate. There is a nice bitterness from the hops and some earthy notes but overall the hops provide bitterness and not a lot of flavour. The bitterness lingers in the finish.

S: Sweet malts notes upfront of dark honey together with toasted grains or cereal and a slight toastiness. Background notes of earthiness and hints of pine. Much, essential hoppy in the scent than I expected.

T: Here are the hops, grassy, piney and citrus pith. Middle notes of sweet malts quickly followed by a long lingering bitterness.

M: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.

O: A nice DIPA but slightly less balanced than what I was hoping for. While the malts were very present in the scent, the taste was much more towards straight hops. This would work better in my view if there were more hops in the scent to balance out the malts and the reverse in the taste.

Clear orange gold in colour, with a perfect two finger head that is just a bit creamy and off-white. Lacing sticks in sheets as the head recedes.

Big citrus hop aroma, not bitter smelling, more fruity. Mixed in is a touch of pine.

Pure hop flavour, from the tip of the tongue back to the finish. Grapefruit citrus bitterness, and a little bit of heat from the alcohol. Flashes of pine at moments. As advertised, a true hop bomb.

Medium bodied, with a bit of an oily feel. Carbonation feels light but is more than sufficient to support the body.

This is a well brewed beer. Not a quaffer for me, in the end I find it a bit much, but the hopheads should be well served with this one. Much thanks again to my Winnipeg connection Rod for getting this beer into my hands.

I've wanted to try Humulus Ludicrous for a while, so huge thanks to BigBry for this bottle that he gave to me when he passed through Toronto last week. It certainly looks classy with its waxed top, and cleanly designed label. This is the first time I've seen waxing on a style of beer you wouldn't usually keep, so I presume its more for aesthetic reasons than cellaring ones. Wax is a cute idea, but its a pain in the ass when you're trying to open the bottle and then pour without getting fragments in the glass.

Anyway, this beer pours a rich amber with a large fluffy cream coloured head, that moved more towards yellow as it died down. Very good retention and nice drapes of lace left here and there round off a pleasing appearance for an imperial IPA. The aroma really comes alive as it warms. At first I can only detect a mil mix of citrus, but with time this bursts apart, and tangerine, candied grapefruit peel, mango, orange and lemon zest and light pine all become apparent. Its sweet, hoppy and moreish.

The flavour has me wishing I could award a 3.75, but I can't, so I'm forced to defer to the lower score. Lots of juicy fruit, with mango and peach coming to the fore. On top of this are all the citrus elements observed in the nose, with the tangerine proving to be the most prominent feature. It certainly has the advertised bitterness, but seems to lack a sustained hop bite in the finish, and fails to sustain a lasting good impression beyond the sip. So while it certainly has the 100 IBUs it advertises on the bottle, it does seem to come across more as a regular IPA than an imperial. Every now and then a hint of stewed vegetable joins the fray, and this is a huge distraction for me, and the one thing that really beats this beer down.

One element that Half Pints have nailed is the mouthfeel. Its luscious, full and creamy, and just short of perfection. This helps contribute to excellent drinkability, and the glass is empty before I know it.

Overall, the peripherals of this beer are outstanding, and the flavour itself is fairly good. There are a few off-notes that prevent it from reaching the top tier for the style, and it drinks more like an IPA and a half. There's no doubt, though, that if I lived in the Prairies this would be a beer I'd drink with relish.

pours reddish copper colour with just a touch of haze. a small dense off-white head rises up, falling slowly and leaving spotty lace behind.

aroma is good. big biscuit malt. grapefruit and orange. hint of alcohol. touch of caramel. bit of pine. not as much hop here as i'd expect, but pretty good.

taste is nice. great hoppy bite. big resiny hop flavour. bit of grapefruit. pine. touch of orange. medium-high bitterness level. light caramel sweetness. bit of alcohol. this is what i was looking for - lots of hops. the biscuity malt is something i don't necessarily associate with an ipa, but i'm not minding it here.

mouthfeel is good. medium body. fairly low carbonation level.

drinkability is good. very well balanced. the alcohol is hidden quite well.

Taste- Very strong hop flavour. Strong bitterness but pleasant on the palate. ABV is quite noticeable in this one.

Mouthfeel- Medium to heavy bodied with good amount of bubbles. Smooth creaminess as it goes down.

Overall- A good session brew from Half Pints. A hoppy yet balanced DIIPA that is sure to impress those that are fond of this style of beer. Quite drinkable for the ABV. This offering from Half Pints tastes very similar to those brewing companies that use fresh hops. For example, the Fresh Hop Full Moon IPA from Alley Kat. Besides this, a good job by Half Pints and I would buy this again.

Poured from a bomber into a MoB teku glass and shared with friends.Thanks to tbadiuk for the bottle!

Pours a deep orange/brown color that speaks of the malt profile to come. The nose is very malty with some nice citrus and spice coming through in the background. On the palate, this beer is still very malty with lots of caramel, light brown sugar, bread dominating. There is a decend wack of hops there with some citrus, floral notes and some spice trying to dry the finish out. The mouthfeel is a bit heavy but still nice considering the malt profile. Maybe I am a hophead, but there seemed to be too much residual sweetness in this beer for my tastes.

Big thanks to Zithal for breaking this out at the Biergotter group brewday 2007. Thanks Rob!This one was fairly clear and coppery orange in colour with fine whitish foam. As the head reduced to a ring, sticky and spotty lacing was left behind. The aroma was that of a true hop bomb - lots of orange and tangerine with some pine and light alcohol in the background. Bitterness was strong without being aggressive, with lots of citrusy hops and mild warmth, plus a pine resin finish. Malt was pushed far into the background. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation and some dryness. Good stuff. A bit more malt would balance it out more, but who am I to complain when a Canadian brewery is making a beer this hoppy. Kudos to Half Pints!

The name seems so obvious for an Imperial IPA, it's a wonder nobody used it sooner.

Anyway, first off. I could do without the wax on the cap. I assume it's there for aesthetic purposes. But really it feels more like it's there for make a mess all over my kitchen counter purposes.

Pours a deeply dark fulvous topped by a modest 1/4", dense head. I can tell instantly that this will lace wonderfully. And boy does it.

The aroma is nice, fresh grapefruit juice and lemon zest, very clean and citrusy with hints of tropical fruits popping up as things go along.

And then a thick and heavy malt shows up in the taste out of no where. Piney bitterness, but with some good hop flavour as well along with lots of tangerine and sweet ripe pineapple and something just a little off that I can't peg. I'd expect more bitterness in the finish considering the style...and I feel a bit let down by that.

Very full bodied, very chewy and viscous in the best possible way. Could use a tad more carbonation to lighten things up a bit, if I'm to nitpick.

Another trade with fisherman34. Big head on clear orange. OK IPA aroma. Soft hops. Dry aggressive hops and dry wood flavour. Enjoyable growing flavour. A tad viscous in the body. A good thing I traded for two bottles. The second full bottle (shared the first one) seems woodier and hoppier.

A- Pours a dark golden orange, almost has a ruby tinge to it. 1 finger off white head that leaves some nice sticky lacing that clings to the glass.

S- Nice piney & grapefruit smell. Lots of malt in the background. Perhaps a little breadiness on the nose as well.

T- The hops aren't as prevalent in the taste. I'm getting a lot of the caramel malt, there's definitely a bitter taste upfront and some that lingers in the finish, a fair bit of sweetness in here as well. Although this isn't what I would expect in a DIPA, the flavors work well together.

Very drinkable leafy minty IPA, citrusy and there are hop oils. 100 IBU takes a first sip or two to get used to.Regular sized bottle, which is not enough, thanks Piscator. Great example of a DIPA.Good cask, had 3 years later at Volo. VG aromas, IBU in taste, smooth drinker without a palate erasing effect.